Andy Reid wants Nottingham Forest players to give fans something to cheer about against Derby County

Published:12:58Friday 18 March 2016

Buoyant Andy Reid wants Nottingham Forest’s players to give fans something to cheer about when the Reds take on Derby County tomorrow.

The Reds have won just twice in eight games but claimed a point at high-flying Hull City on Tuesday night, just days after the sacking of Dougie Freedman.

Freedman was in charge of Forest the last time the two sides met at the City Ground in November, as the Reds ran out comfortable 1-0 winners on the night.

Reid, who is assisting caretaker boss Paul Williams, is looking to make it a league double over their old adversaries in the eagerly-anticipated Saturday lunch time kick off.

“Preparations have been really good,” Reid told nottinghamforest.co.uk. “There’s a lot of positivity surrounding the place and we’re hopefully going to take that into Saturday.

“We’re fully aware of how big and important the game is but, as much as we want to win, we can’t get caught up in the occasion. We’ve got to make sure the team is set up properly and that we go out and play the football we want to play.

“We know Derby have got some good players - their league position suggests they’re a top-six team – but we’ve got good players as well and we’ll have no problem matching them up.

“We don’t think for one second it’s going to be easy but we’re going to go there and try and win the game.”

The Irishman added: “Our fans always turn up in massive numbers and it’s nice when we can give them something to cheer about. It’s up to us to do that and the best thing we can do is give them a win in the local derby.

“If we can do that, we’ll have beaten Derby home and away this season – that’ll be nice.”